Dramatically set within a former power station close to Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station, Higher Ground is a food and drink destination; seamlessly transitioning its patrons from morning through night.
The inspiration for owner Nathan Toleman came on a trip to London, the hospitality whiz knowing instantly that he wanted to create ‘a new style of café, the likes of which Melbourne had ever seen; not a café, not a restaurant, but to create a hotel with no rooms’. After finding the empty brick shell on Little Bourke Street, Toleman brought DesignOffice on board to help create just that.
Higher Ground by name and nature, the hotel with no rooms now features six connected levels that come together to create a flowing space; the vast shell given intimacy through the several tiered platforms. A rich palette that combines terrazzo, cork, painted steel, stone, black fibre-board and solid timbers defines and anchors each section; plants, rugs and moody lighting adding further warmth to the industrial space.
Photography, Sean Fennessy
